Independent Senator Nick Xenophon says the Government should not help Qantas until the company overhauls its management, which he says has "presided over a disastrous strategy".

Earlier this month, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce delivered a speech increasing pressure on Coalition MPs to "change" government policy or risk the airline losing its status as national carrier.

The act currently restricts foreign investment to 49 per cent in total and to 25 per cent for any one foreign entity.

It also requires that most of the airline's heavy maintenance, flight operations and training - and the jobs associated with this work - be located in Australia.

Mr Abbott has repeatedly described the act as a "ball and chain" around Qantas and says the Government is considering legislation to cut it off.

"We want to ensure that Qantas management as far as is humanly possible don't have any government imposed ball and chain around their ankles and that's the problem with the Sale Act," he said on Wednesday.

"It is a significant restriction on Qantas's freedom of manoeuvre and that's why the Government is considering legislation to establish a level playing field in this area."

But the Federal Opposition's transport spokesman Anthony Albanese says any change would have far-reaching implications for the airline.

"If you removed the foreign investment restrictions with regard to Qantas you would have to split up Qantas and have its international arm remain majority Australian-owned in order to comply with the Air Navigation Act and those international agreements that are in place," he said.

The Air Navigation Act requires carriers to keep Australian majority ownership in order to gain the rights to routes in and out of Australia.

More broadly, Mr Albanese says the foreign investment restrictions are "in the interests of national security".

"The likely owners of Qantas and controllers of Qantas would be another airline which is backed either whole or in part through the sort of subsidies that occur around the world by another government," he said.